Mindfulness practice offers us a wholesome Way of being aware… of seeing… of knowing… and of relating to “what is”. When intended as a Way of being in our daily activities, it offers us a gateway toward a more vital mode of living- both within and outside of ourselves. By “carefully paying attention” in the present moment, we improve our capacity to regulate emotion; manage emotional dysfunction; improve patterns of thinking; and reduce negative mindsets, etc.

As a form of awareness, mindfulness has the power to disentangle us from our conditioned (routinized) ways of perceiving, thinking, and relating to our experiences. We explore and examine our everyday experiences with a “freshness” of perspective- open-minded and contextually sensitive to see things in a new way. In the here and now, with everything we see, sense, and perceive to be in constant flux, we accept a form of “conditional learning” that transcends what we experience as  “absolutes”- being aware of what’s happening as it is happening in a curious, open-hearted, and non-judgmental way- intentionally and on purpose.

Through routine practice of being mindful in our daily lives both formally and informally, a refined state of “discerning awareness” manifests to where the observer experiences a form of dis-identification from the activity of his/her own mind… simply noticing waves of thoughts, feelings, images, and sensations as they naturally arise and fall in consciousness. This process of dis-identification is both radical and liberating to the Western mindset. It is this disentanglement with the mind and the mind-body process… this discerning awareness that may be the most operant mechanism of the mindfulness practice responsible for ameliorating human suffering. It is also this discerning awareness that helps us to move beyond the automaticity of our mental habits and conditioning through routine attention training and the skillfulness of a refined ‘mindsight’ or ‘witness consciousness’.

Cultivating a refined form of ‘awareness’ is a direct outcome of our fortitude to practice routinely in the face of our life’s challenges, difficulties, and adversities. It is embracing both pleasant and unpleasant experiences with equanimity- a balanced and tempered perspective of ‘what is’.  It flourishes from our focused intention, attention, objectivity, and care to discern what may be deeply wholesome in fostering health and well-being not only in our own lives but also in the lives of others. Compassion and empathy flow naturally from this truly purposeful and meaningful process, and expands not only a deep sense of self-care, but also an altruistic level of care for others.

Mindful awareness is a seed for everyday change and transformation.. moment-to- moment… person-to-person. What may seem to be very ordinary may have extraordinary consequences in the transformational power underlying this truly revelational practice.

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